An Large Assortment of Online and Self-Study Courses Based on Actual Malpractice Cases Involving Mental Health Clinicians Are Now Available

Santa Barbara, CA & Alabany, OR (PRWEB) December 3, 2006

Dr. Grosso, the president of FGrosso.com and board certified forensic examiner announces the availability of new online and self-study articles based on his actual experience as an expert witness involving malpractice actions against marriage & family therapists, clinical social workers, and drug & alcohol counselors. His varied, successful, and extensive experience as an expert witness allows him to educate and prepare mental health clinicians to address those clinical issues that could blindside them because they never expected that they would be facing a malpractice action. Dr. Grosso will tell any clinician that it's impossible to predict when a client will commit suicide, kill someone else, abuse a child or elder, or die of anorexia. The lack of predictability places clinicians in a difficult situation: "dammed if you do and dammed if you don't." He would say that unless the clinician is prepared from the beginning, it's likely that the clinician will face a difficult and painful path in defending him/herself in court.

Dr. Grosso wrote these articles with the mental health clinician in mind. He has witnessed so many clinicians undergo a painful malpractice action that he decided to take action to help these them prepare and protect themselves from the unknown. He recognized that an unprepared clinician is a doomed clinician. For example, a clinician can be sued for breaching confidentiality as well as not breaching confidentiality in certain situations. Preparation requires understanding and knowing how to manage potential crisis issues in a reasonable and prudent manner to ward off the attacks of the opposing attorney.

He advocates the primary approach that clinicians can use: an appropriate informed consent document. This serves to inform the client the clinical behaviors they can expect from the clinician. Additionally, the clinician can use this document to hold the client accountable when he or she places the clinician's well being in jeopardy.

Dr. Grosso advocates the use of judicious mental health records. His experience has made him aware that a clinician who writes too much as well as too little places him/herself at risk when facing an opposing attorney. Too much information provides the opposing attorney with information to discredit the clinician or the client. Too little information serves to present the clinician as a professional who failed in his or her duty to assess, diagnose, and provide treatment according to the standard of care.

He will reinforce that clinicians can't expect a guarantee that they won't be sued. However, Dr. Grosso inculcates in clinicians the awareness that with adequate preparation, understanding of appropriate clinical management, being facile with the legal and ethical professional duties, using appropriate protective documents, and documenting assessment/diagnosis/treatment in a reasonable and prudent manner, the clinician can diminish the possibility that the lawsuit will be taken to trial.

In addition to these articles, Dr. Grosso has written several books addressing the legal and ethical application of professional duty for mental health clinicians. Additionally, he educates many clinicians in introductory and advanced courses regarding legal and ethical duties. He is renown for developing a foundational course on the safe management of crisis issues. These are clinical issues that can place the clinician in a dire situation, such as a client suicide or a client attempting to murder a third party. Should the client succeed, the clinician can expect to be sued for failing to protect those involved. Again, Dr. Grosso's intent is to protect clinicians from these unpredictable situations. His many resources are available from his website.

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